From One Universe to Another

Mal hunched over the toilet for a moment longer before slowly standing and flushing the thing. She grumbled and shook as she slowly made her way out and over to the sink. Quickly washing up she sighed heavily and walked out the door. Well, this was humiliating, just a bit. But she kept walking until she silently slipped into the booth again, where ever the free spot happened to be.

Mal stared at the table and remained silent, having come back in the middle of the conversation as the human Doctor was asking who Sonya was.

Robin looked from Sonya to the Doctor to Mal. "Blimey, you can smell the tension... So, food, then off someplace, yeah?" She tried to lift the awkwardness that was hanging over their heads. "Oh, and what do you mean, human Doctor? I thought the Doctor was a Timelord?" She tried her hand at changing the subject, considering she usually failed at it. Lucky for her, she actually wanted to know something. She'd heard about Timelords doing some weird thing and becoming human, but she thought they forgot about their Timelord lives.

Old friends don't know how to fly the Tardis, the Doctor thought to himself. Unless you're Rose Tyler and absorb the time vortex... There was no one who could fly the Tardis without being a timelord, or himself, and they were all dead. At least, that's what he had thought before he saw the Master again. He stared at Sonya a while, his thoughts remaining unvoiced as his eyes tried to pierce into her, as if he could figure all of it out by sight. Unfortunately his telepathy was lacking, having gone by the wayside the moment he became human, being locked behind human barriers and its simple mind. Which carried the not so simple mind of his timelord self, and all his memories.

He finally looked away, his eyes glancing up towards Mal as she returned from the restroom, looking slightly pale. His eyes flickered over to the kitchen as he spotted the waitress coming out again, presumably with their food. His eyes flickered back to Robin as they gave her the same scrutiny, before they relaxed slightly, and he leaned back in his chair.

"The Doctor is a timelord, I was a timelord...but when I was regenerating, I stored the energy that would've changed myself into a new person, inside this hand." And with that he waved his right hand at Robin, a slight grin appearing on his face. "And one of my companions, she touched it, and I grew out of this hand," he continued, waggling his fingers back and forth. "A timelord human meta-crisis. So I'm part human, part timelord."

"Something that saved everyone's lives, but at a cost." Sonya murmured, a pang of sadness shooting through her at the memory of Donna. "Granted, the Doctor finally got to be with Rose the way they both wanted." She suddenly added slyly, a grin appearing on her face as she looked over at him, an eyebrow arching upwards suggestively. "How does the human life suit you? Staying in one place?" She suddenly asked, staring intently at him with burning curiosity behind her words.

Leaning forward, Sonya rested her arms on the table and tilted her head to the side. All her life, she could have never stayed in one place for so long. It bothered her to sit there at the moment. Shifting in her seat, she flashed a thankful smile at the waitress as she set a plate of food in front of her. "Smells great..." She grinned, leaning over to sniff the fragrant food. "Italian seasoning, pepper and what might be... What? Seasalt? Yeah, seasalt. Not a bad choice."

Mal suddenly looked up at the meta-crisis Doctor then over to Sonya. Her nose wrinkled at the implication and she fidgeted in her chair. Oh no, the images were assaulting her head... images that very well may be worse then what she was thinking of before. Mal's face seemed to contort further the more she thought until her whole of it was twisted in a disturbed expression.

As soon as the food was placed in front of them, she snatched her basket of chips and began to eat them though her clenching stomach protested. Her appetite hadn't agreed with her for a long time so if the petite girl seemed slimmer than normal, that was the reason. Though the way she was shoving the greasy grub into her maw could trick the others into thinking she was eating very well. Or maybe had starved herself. Stop with the feeling of feelings, Mal. You always look the way you feel. Quick! Act natural!

Mal sat straight and stopped shoving food into her mouth, the chips currently in her mouth were being chewed slowly though she wanted nothing more than to spit them out and save her stomach the trouble. Her eyes were too wide and the small quiver to her body wasn't doing any favours for her calm composure. She swallowed the chips painfully and pulled a disgusted face.

Robin looked over at Mal frowned, "You alright? It doesn't look like you should be eating those chips, you look sick." The poor woman looked so uncomfortable, and it was partially her fault. She didn't know what she did to her, but apparently the mere sight of her sent her rushing away. That made her feel bad and wish she could find the right words to make her happier, but that wasn't going to happen. Mainly since she didn't know what was really upsetting her. "What's wrong, Mal?" She asked, frowning in concern.

The Meta-crisis Doctor's eyes shifted up to meet Sonya's again, and for a moment, they held their own sadness. Timelines had converged on her, on that moment, and had it not been for her, the entire universe would've perished. And yet, he knew that what happened couldn't have happened, and Donna wouldn't be able to handle his timelord consciousness. Even at the mention of Rose, his eyes carried the same amount of sadness, knowing that he was still stuck in this parallel world.

"Well," the Doctor said as he turned his gaze away from Sonya. "It's...different. Though it's easier to stay in one place when you have someone to stay in one place with. Besides, I didn't exactly have my own Tardis to travel with," he said as he looked back, half blinking in an almost sly way himself. "Or my own sonic screwdriver. Although..." his mouth opened as an idea came to him, and he looked back towards the restaurant door. He could always get the Tardis to make him a new one, but he planned on doing that later.

He watched as the food was set down in front of the, raising an eyebrow curiously at Sonya as she sniffed her food, then began listing off the different spices. Showing off to match his own perhaps, or just liked noticing smells. Two could play at that game, he thought idly as he himself leaned over to sniff his own food. His human senses weren't quite as sharp as a timelord's, which meant he had to try harder. But he could still differentiate between each smell.

"Pepper, black in particular, little bit of rosemary..." he trailed off as he stuck a bite in his mouth, before making a face. "And terribly lacking in salt," he said before he grabbed a shaker and shook it vigorously over the steak.

Sonya let out a laugh and shook her head with an amused expression. "The steak is salted fine. You my friend, have an iron deficiency." With a chuckle, she dug into her own steak with pleasure, cooked perfectly in her opinion, not bloody rare, but not cooked all the way either. Just right. Lifting the bite to her lips, she paused with a slight frown, a scent touched her nose that caused her to stare at the small bit of meat in confusion. He was right, the salt was lower than she had earlier noticed. But that wasn't right, she knew she smelled a proper amount of salt on it when she took the first sniff.

Setting the bite down, she lifted a fry to her nose and sniffed at it before pulling a disgusted face. "The oils they used... They don't. Just, just wrong. It's not vegetable." She announced, dropping the food back down and pushing the plate away in distaste. It wasn't she was picky, but one thing she knew was Earth used, soy, peanut or vegetable oils to cook with. And whatever they used was not even close to any of those.

Mal coughed and looked at Robin, "Wha-what do you mean? Noth- nothing is wrong! Ha, why would you ask that? That- now that's a random question. I'm just b-being myself. Yup! Myself, see? Mal, Mal, Mal. Malling around." She wiped at her forehead and soon couldn't bring herself to look at anyone. She covered her face in her arms that were on the table. She moaned before talking about, this time it was hard to hear.

"I don't know what's wrong with me... I keep doing stupid things I can't deal with... I'm just an idiot. Stupid, stupid, idiot. I mean.. when you were... you know? And I... did the thing. It's just.. now I c-can't stop making rash decisions."

Robin instantly understood what she was talking about and sighed. She started to wish she was on the same side of the booth as Mal so she could wrap an arm around her and tell her it was okay. "You're fine, Mal. If you didn't do.. the thing, then none of us would havae made it out of there. If you think you're making rash decisions, just learn to think, alright?" She smiled faintly at her before turning to Sonya to see what was going on there. "What do you mean? You think someone's poisoning the food or something? Well probably not poison, but you get my point." She frowned, looking down at the food, glad she didn't order any.

He swallowed the steak, a blank look on his face as Sonya expressed a certain distaste for it. He picked up one of the fries and stuck it in his mouth, chewing it and moving it around his teeth with his tongue. His face carried a pondering expression, which remained that way as he continued to eat the fries. Finally, he say, "You're right, it's not your usual fries. They've changed their recipe." He mulled it over in his head, with each fry he ate, trying to figure out what it was cooked in. It didn't taste like vegetable oil at all, it tasted like...

Finally he took one of the fries, and deciding the tastes of the oil was blending in with the food, instead moved it up to his mouth and licked the outside of it. He did the same for a bite of meat, getting a mouthful of oil, meat residue, and the oil it was cooked in. Suddenly his face brightened with recognition.

"Krillitane oil! That's what it is!" He looked over at Robin, seeing the concerned look on her face. "Oh it's not poisonous, it's perfectly fine for human and timelord consumption. Perfectly harmless. Well, mostly harmless. Well, pretty much harmless. Well... It'll just make a human super smart with enough exposure. The last time I had these," the doctor proceeded to wave a fry around in the air as he talked, before throwing it in his mouth. "Was at a school, where the krillitanes intended to hack the universal code with children. But why is it here?" The human Doctor leaned forward with a frown as he examined the food on his plate. "There's nothing special about this place, random people walk in and out, eat here occasionally, eat somewhere else, there's not a constant flow of the same exact people to eat the same exact amount and get smarter. So why..."

The Doctor didn't finish his sentence as he suddenly stood up, and walked towards the kitchen door, grabbing a handful of fries as he went and shoving them into his mouth. Ignoring those around him, he pushed open the door and looked inside.

Sonya felt a slight scowl of frustration cross her face as she stared at the fries in confusion. The Doctor's questions surfacing in her mind. He did have a good point, why would they have Krillotaine oil in a restaurant where only the regulars would get the proper amount of exposure? Casting a glance around the restaurant, she eyed several of the tables as they all enjoyed their meals. "The regulars would be people that came in here for lunch and dinner on a regular basis. So... Who would be..." Her eyes drifted to the window again, sudden realization crossing her mind as she stared at the building just on the other side of the road.

An office building, a computer security office building to be exact. "Doctor, I think..." She called quietly, her voice coming out hoarser than she would have liked. Clearing her throat quickly, she tried again. "Doctor, the office building. It's right across the street from here." Sonya finally said, looking over at him as he stared through the kitchen doors at whatever was behind them.

Mal turned to look at Robin and smiled a little, muttering an agreement that didn't sound very convincing. But soon the attention was turned to the food. Mal had consumed over half the basket in the short amount of time it had been on the table. And now the Man-Doctor was saying something about Krill-tine oil. Was that like.. a shrimp and tangerine oil? It didn't taste orange-y or fishy to me...

Oh, then he was talking about some weird alien stuff Mal really didn't want to know about. But now she did and it was just a tad disturbing. She watched the Man- Doctor walk to the kitchen and addressed Sonya, "No one could convince me him and the Time Lord Doctor were different people. Acts the bloody same, yeah? I mean look t that, couldn't sit still and eat his stupid food.. he has to go in there and figure out this... whatever this is about the Krill-tangerine oil. Or whatever the heck that alien stuff is called."

Robin would have slipped out of the booth already if it weren't for Sonya being in the way., but then she mentioned the office across the street. "What about the office? How's it important?" She asked, looking through the window to examine it. "Oh.. that's why..." She mumbled frowning as she saw the logo of the company displayed proudly above the door. "I still don't get it though, why would they want computer security? Got some websites they don't want people to know they go on?" She joked, trying to lighten the mood a bit. Whatever these Krillitanes were, apparently they were bad, because Sonya looked genuinely frightened.

He didn't know what he was expecting to find when he opened the door. He saw seemingly normal looking people moving about in the kitchen, each of them cooking up a meal. Some of them seemed to take notice of him however, pausing their cooking to stare right at him. His brown eyes scrutinized the interior, looking for a barrel or container that could possibly store the krillitane oil. He soon spotted one in the corner, with a suspicious dollop of yellow goop on the crate, but he looked up to see one of the cooks approaching.

"What are you doing in here?" She seemed both angry and irked at his presence.

"I, uhm, the fries, yes, there's something wrong with the fries. Could you send me and my friends a new plate of fries? They taste funny."

The cook gave him a huff, before he turned away from the kitchen, letting the door fall shut behind him. He slapped his hands together as he wandered back over to the table the rest were seated at. He gave each of them a glance, listening to their conversation as his eyes moved to the office building across the street. Something about that office building struck him as funny, but he couldn't place what.

"Oh, brilliant!" he shouted, causing the other patrons to look at him funny. "No wait, that's just dull. And ordinary. Who tries the same thing twice," the Doctor said with a groan. "Even the Daleks never do the same thing twice. Then again maybe they're just persistant. Still, you would need to regulate the entire workforce to get them working together, and not everyone eats here. Doesn't quite fit together," the Doctor said as he snapped his fingers together, looking frustrated. He looked about ready to walk out the door towards the office, before he suddenly stopped and turned around. "Uhm...does anybody happen to have a sonic screwdriver?"

Sonya raised an eyebrow and let out a small sigh, slipping her own Sonic out of a jacket pocket to toss to him. "I want that back. She's my baby and I won't have her missing." She added with a pointing finger at him. "And I'm telling you they could get the workers to eat here if the place of work pays for their meals." She added, folding her arms over her chest with a light sigh, Oh that human brain of his. Just because something is mildly boring he instantly thinks it isn't right. Rolling her eyes upward she studied the tiles on the ceiling for a moment before getting to her feet and pacing around the table. "I hate sitting still." She grumbled to herself before plopping back down in her chair and staring at the other two at the table with her. "We could play twenty questions three times before he gets back. If he does, the man does have a knack for being captured when off on his own."

Mal looked at the Man-Doctor and then over at Sonya, "Let's just go with him. I'm not exactly hungry any more and I would rather prevent him from doing something destructive instead of cleaning up something he destroyed, yeah? No offence, mate." She added with a wave of her hand at the Doctor.

((short, sorry))

"I agree with Mal, but I can't get up." Robin giggled, looking over at Sonya who was blocking the exit from the booth. "I could crawl over your lap but I doubt you'd want that to happen." She looked over to Mal, hoping she'd stay and wait for Sonya to get up and come with them. "Anyway, if you don't like sitting around, then why not go jump into the trouble?" She grinned mischievously at Sonya, now sitting on her knees.

(OOC: Nothing special yet.)

He caught the screwdriver as it sailed into his hands, and began holding it idly between two fingers. "Yeah, I suppose they could," he said as he waved the screwdriver back and forth between his fingers. "But still it wouldn't be as vast of an exposure, and as many for the same grandscale plan I could stop again." He pushed the door open and was halfway out, before he pocked his head back in. "Where did you get a sonic scewdriver anyway?" he asked with the same disbelief as before. Then a, "Oh nevermind," with a slight roll of the eyes and head before he turned out the door.

Once outside, he waved the screwdriver back and forth, before he stuck it in one of his jacket pockets, which were bigger on the inside. His hands went into his pants' pockets as he idly shuffled across the street, nearly getting hit by a car as it went zooming by him with a loud honk. He made it to the building, and circled around to the back, coming to a large metal door with a keypad. He looked surreptiously to the sides and back for cameras, before he pulled out the sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the keypad, the sonic whirring. "Open sesame," he said as the keypad light displayed green and the door unlocked. Shoving it back in his pocket, he pulled the door open and wandered inside what appeared to be a storage area of some kind. The door fell shut behind him with a clang, but he wasn't terribly worried.

Reaching up for the light switch, he buzzed the sonic screwdriver, the light activating to shine on the room. Crate after crate was stacked here, including old terminals and old computers ready to be junked. Climbing on top of a crate, he pointed his screwdriver at one, buzzing the screws off of it and knocking them onto the floor with a clinking. He opened it up, pulling all manner of foam and wrappings out of the box, finding it only to be spare computer parts. He shoved the lid back on and opened another, out of which poured out a good deal of cold white air. He peered inside, finding the interior to be covered in a layer of dry ice. You should be in the freezer, he thought as he grabbed a crowbar, and lifted the bag of dry ice to the side. Pointing his screwdriver at it, he melted some of the ice on top of the contents, finding it to be a package of meat. Reaching in, he grabbed the now thawed package of meat out, lifting it up to his eyes to peer at it.

Couldn't find any rats? He thought as he threw it back in, removed the crowbar, and set the top back on. Well that settled it for him, they were here, though he imagined this box hadn't quite made it to freezer yet. Though were they still the same bat form? He still was no closer to why, however. Jumping off the crate and onto the floor, he brushed his hands off, before walking to the door. Pointing the screwdriver at the lock, it opened, and he walked through into one of the hallways.

Sonya eyed the two of them then nodded, already getting to her feet as she followed the Doctor out towards the building with her own hands tucked away. Finding the door he went through, she eyed the keypad for a moment then tapped in several bypass codes until the light blinked green at her. "Come on then, hurry up you two." She called, looking over at the road where they still stood by, her hand holding the door open until they crossed over.

Ducking her head inside, she eyed several of the crates, noting some screws on the ground. Her eyes shifted up just in time to see a door swing shut ahead of them. Looking over her shoulder, she made sure the girls were still with her then strode over and studied the lock on it curiously. "Of course no keypad. I hate this day and age. So many different types of security it drives you mad." She mumbled, reaching into her jacket and pulling a lock pick out. Slipping it into the key slot, she jiggled it around until an audible click could be heard. "Still pointless to me, but still. In about twenty years, everyone is going to have locks that require a card to get through with. No more keys, just lots of what look like credit cards." She added idly, pushing the door open slowly to peer around it. "Oi, Doctor. Wait up." Sonya called quietly, finally spotting the familiar suit just ahead of her.

(I know, it's really bad but I'm kinda half asleep right now)

Mal shot Robin a look and smiled a little as she went along with Sonya. She ran across the street, almost getting hit by a car much like the Doctor. It was a miracle her bad luck didn't decide to show up and shove her in front of the damn vehicle. Inside the building, Mal looked around with wide eyes. She had no idea what they were looking for but she went along with it. "Talk about a lot of junk, eh?"

She followed Sonya over to the door and entered it once open, looking around the hallways and suddenly feeling her anxiety pick up. Mal began to do her normal signs of her anxious behaviour: Never staying still, head turning this way and that as if she expected something to jump out, picking at her clothes. I don't like this. Does it feel cold to you? I'm frozen..."

Robin ran after the other two as they headed for the other side of the street and to the office building in question. How Mal didn't get hit by that car was a mystery to her, and an even greater mystery - how she wasn't completely freaking out about it. She was practically running the whole time to keep up with Sonya's quick pace, but she got to slow down once they were in the hallway with the Doctor. Turning to Mal, she noticed the poor woman was feeling uncomfortable again. One day she was going to have to get over that... "It's not that cold in here Mal.. Well it is a bit chilly." Robin frowned, grateful for her jacket. "Yeah, why is it so cold in here?" Robin asked the others quietly, not knowing if anyone was nearby or not.

"Simple answer, the air conditioning is on!" He exclaimed as he looked up at the ceiling, staring right at a vent pouring out cold air. "It's on full blast too, almost freezing," the Doctor said as he put his hand up in front of the vent. "Actually, it is freezing..." he murmured in thought. "Maybe they can't handle heat now." Then he walked underneath it, down the hallway and around the corner. He passed by several individuals, who didn't seem at all bothered by his presence. Then again he was in a suit, and for the most fit the business dress code. As long as one ignored the sneakers and T-shirt.

"Probably looking for a nice large computer center," he said, putting on a pair of glasses and peering at a map on the wall of all the floors. "Also, I don't know how well they're going to take to children in the building," he remarked as he looked over at Robin.

Sonya eyed Robin for a moment then flashed a grin over at the Doctor. "Simple. Your bringing your daughter to work to show her what you do for a living." She said cheerfully, slinging an arm over the girl's shoulders and dragging her up next to him. "What other explanation than that?" Grinning brightly, she shoved her hands into her pockets and rocked back and forth on her feet for a moment, staring at the two with a satisfied nod. "Yep, just muss her hair up in the front a bit and you can pass her off as yours."

Without waiting for an answer, she started walking down the hallway once more, peering in a couple of the doors. "you know... This place is remarkably uninteresting. Nothing weird besides the frozen meat in the storage area."

Mal looked at Robin and then at the Doctor. She began to snicker at the thought of them being blood related and then just stretched to cover up her amusement. Alright, so the AC was on, Mal must have just been paranoid. Again. She started to wonder why people kept running into her and then insisting she come with them for whatever sick reason they could come up with. This time around had been voluntary but Mal felt even if she sat in the booth back at the restaurant someone would have prompted her to follow. Wasn't her anxious, paranoid and jittery nature a burden to keep around? Maybe the lot were entertained by it... lot of crazy freaks they were.